Over the last years the use of portable communication-and recreation-related electronic apparatus, such as mobile telephones, MP3-type music players or electronic notebooks has increased significantly. Said apparatus are usually powered by batteries, which endow them with a certain autonomy, and which must be recharged in order to be able to continue to supplying the apparatus with power in subsequent uses.
In order to carry out the recharging operation, voltage transformers are usually used; these are usually distributed together with each portable electronic apparatus as an accessory device, these being adapted to be plugged into a power supply, for example by means of twin-pole plug terminals for female wall sockets or by means of cigar-lighter plugs for the female cigar-lighter socket of vehicles, and into the battery of the apparatus in question, usually via the portable electronic apparatus itself, with no need to remove said battery from the interior of the same. This last connection is carried out by means of a plug which usually has a particular shape in accordance with the type of apparatus and which depends on its manufacturer.
Furthermore, in the field of portable electronic apparatus it is frequent for new products or new versions of the product to appear; these require a different plug for connection to the voltage transformers. For this reason, in the majority of cases, consumers and users inevitably tend to collect voltage transformers without being able to dispense with any of these, as currently a standard or universal type of connection is not used for recharging the apparatus; not even between those of the same sector or between similar models. For this reason, as has been explained above, there exists the need to supply, together with the apparatus, the corresponding voltage transformer in order to carry out the recharging operation.
With the aim of solving the aforementioned problems, voltage transformer devices equipped with a plurality of connectors have been revealed, these being mechanically and removably connected by means of a coupling means to said voltage transformer, each of these being equipped with a plug of a particular shape. Said devices are usually very simple, in order to reduce their final price, as is the case with conventional voltage transformers, and also in order to avoid a considerable increase in their weight or size in comparison with the conventional voltage transformers described above. Likewise, the coupling systems of the connectors to the transformer devices are also usually very simple. For this reason, at the moment of coupling the components in order to recharge a portable electronic apparatus, the ergonomic or practical aspects are not taken into account, such as the upright positioning of the electronic apparatus for its use during recharging, or the avoidance of accidental uncoupling between the components of the voltage transformers.
Another problem regarding transformer devices with connectors that can be coupled, as described above, lies in the need to manufacture new connectors equipped with new plugs as new connecting plugs appear on the market; this happens most frequently. The manufacture of said plugs is usually by means of moulding or by plastic injection, with a minimum number of parts in order to reduce costs, these being especially designed so as to hold a particular shape of plug. As a result, whenever a new plug is developed and the new connector is to be manufactured, the manufacturing moulds have to be redesigned.
For this reason, the absence of a more versatile device for the charging of portable electronic apparatus becomes apparent; a device which would be easily adaptable to different connection plug configurations and with the lowest possible cost.